Four-toed salamander

Taxobox
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
trend = stable
name = Four-toed salamander


image_width = 200px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Amphibia
ordo = Caudata
familia = Plethodontidae
genus = "Hemidactylium"
genus_authority = Tschudi, 1838
binomial = "Hemidactylium scutatum"

Common names : Four-toed salamander, salamandre à quatre orteils

The Four-toed salamander ("Hemidactylium scutatum")is native to North America. It is a member of the Plethodontidae family of salamanders, which is characterized by their absence of lungs; they instead achieve respiration through their skin and the tissues lining their mouth. The Four-toed salamander can be recognize by its white underbelly sprinkled with black dots. Its back varies from orange-brownish to red-brownish; its flanks are grayish. The body and the limbs are elongated, the snout is short and the eyes are prominent. The tail color is usually brighter than the back, you can observe a constriction at the body/tail junction. The posterior limbs have four toes (hence its name), a good identification criteria but hard to use in the field. This species rarely exceeds 10cm in length. The sexes are alike except for the shape of the head; males have an elongated and almost square snout, and the female’s snout is short and round. The juveniles show a tail shorter than the body [ [DESROCHES, J.-F. & D. RODRIGUES. 2004. Amphibiens et Reptiles du Québec et des Maritimes. Éd. Michel Quintin. Waterloo. 288p.] ] , [ [GILHEN, J. 1984. Amphibians and Reptiles of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Museum. Halifax. 162p.] ] .

Similar species: The Four-toed salamander can be easily mistaken for the redback salamander (Plethodon cinereus) in the wild. The redback’s underbelly is more of a “salt & pepper” color. There is no constriction at the tail and posterior limbs show five digits [ [DESROCHES, J.-F. & D. RODRIGUES. 2004. Amphibiens et Reptiles du Québec et des Maritimes. Éd. Michel Quintin. Waterloo. 288p.] ] .

Distribution: In Canada, the Four-toed salamander can be found in southern Ontario and Quebec, in Nova Scotia and a single population was found in New Brunswick in 1983. In the United States, it can be found from Maine to Wisconsin and as far as Alabama in the south [ [GILHEN, J. 1984. Amphibians and Reptiles of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Museum. Halifax. 162p.] ] [ [BEHLER, J. & F.W. KING. 1996. Field Guide to North American Reptiles & Amphibians. National Audubon Society. Alfred A. Knopf. New-York. 743p.] ] , [ [DESROCHES, J.-F. & B. COUTURE. 2002. Extension de l’Aire de Distribution Connue de la Salamandre à Quatre Doigts, (Hemidactylum scutatum), dans l’Est du Québec, et Notes sur l’Habitat. Canadian Field-Naturalist 116(2) : 317-318.] ] , [ [GORDON, D.M. 1979. New Localities for the Northern Spring Salamander and the Four-Toed Salamander in southwestern Québec. Canadian Field-Naturalist 93(2): 193-195.] ] , [ [Woodley, S.J. & Rosen, M. 1988. First Record of the Four-Toed Salamander, Hemidactylium scutatum, in New Brunswick. Canadian Field-Naturalist 102(2): 7-12.] ] .

Habitat: This species favored habitats are sphagnum bogs, grassy areas surrounding beaver ponds and deciduous or mixed forests rich with mosses. The Four-toed salamander will use the sphagnum bogs during reproduction, but uses the forest habitat during the summer. It overwinters in terrestrial habitat, using old burrows or cavities created by rotting roots, below the freezing depth. It will frequently overwinter in groups, sometimes with other amphibians such as the redback salamander [ [BIDER, J.R. & S. MATTE. 1994. Atlas des Amphibiens et Reptiles du Québec. Société d’Histoire Naturelle de la Vallée du Saint-Laurent et Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Faune du Québec. Direction de la Faune et des Habitats. Québec. 106p.] ] , [ [GILHEN, J. 1984. Amphibians and Reptiles of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Museum. Halifax. 162p.] ] , [ [DESROCHES, J.-F. & D. RODRIGUES. 2004. Amphibiens et Reptiles du Québec et des Maritimes. Éd. Michel Quintin. Waterloo. 288p.] ] .

Home range: The home range of the species is not known. It was believed that the different elements of its habitat (breeding, summer and overwintering) had to be within 100m of each other, but recent observations might suggest this to be an underestimation [ [DESROCHES, J.-F. & D. RODRIGUES. 2004. Amphibiens et Reptiles du Québec et des Maritimes. Éd. Michel Quintin. Waterloo. 288p.] ] .

Sexual reproduction: Mating occurs in terrestrial areas throughout the fall months. In early spring the females nest on land, along the banks of small ponds. After the 4-6 week embryonic period, the larvae hatch and make their way to the adjacent pond. Four-toed salamanders undergo a relatively short aquatic larval period, when compared to other species of the same family, ranging between 3 and 6 weeks [ [GILHEN, J. 1984. Amphibians and Reptiles of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Museum. Halifax. 162p.] ] , [ [GORDON, D.M. 1979. New Localities for the Northern Spring Salamander and the Four-Toed Salamander in southwestern Québec. Canadian Field-Naturalist 93(2): 193-195.] ] , [ [DESROCHES, J.-F. & D. RODRIGUES. 2004. Amphibiens et Reptiles du Québec et des Maritimes. Éd. Michel Quintin. Waterloo. 288p.] ] .

Nesting Behaviour: There are three methods of nesting that have been documented in the females of H.scutatum, which can fall into one of two categories, solitary or communal/joint nesting. Solitary nesters lay and brood only their eggs. Communal nesting is normally one female brooding the eggs of two or more, up to 14, females of the same species. In this method the females either lay their eggs and leave the nest, or lay their eggs and stay to brood their eggs as well as those of the deserting females. About 1/3 of the nests of a population are joint nests, while between 50% and 70% of females lay their eggs in joint nests each year [ [Harris, R.N. & D.E. Gill. 1980. Communal Nesting, Brooding Behavior, and Embryonic Survival of the Four-Toed Salamander Hemidactylium scutatum. Herpetological. 36(2):141-144.] ] , [ [Carreño, C.A. & R.N. Harris. 1998. Lack of Nest Defense Behavior and Attendance Patterns in a Joint Nesting Salamander, Hemidactylium scutatum (Caudata: Plethodontidae). Copeia. (1):183-189.] ] .

Oophagy has also been reported in H.scutatum, where one female would eat several eggs of another female before laying her eggs in a communal nest [ [Harris, R.N. & D.E. Gill. 1980. Communal Nesting, Brooding Behavior, and Embryonic Survival of the Four-Toed Salamander Hemidactylium scutatum. Herpetological. 36(2):141-144.] ] , [ [Carreño, C.A. & R.N. Harris. 1998. Lack of Nest Defense Behavior and Attendance Patterns in a Joint Nesting Salamander, Hemidactylium scutatum (Caudata: Plethodontidae). Copeia. (1):183-189.] ] .

Conservation status: Although it is rare, or at least rarely seen, COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) does not consider H. scutatum to be at risk in Canada [COSEWIC, 2008 [http://www.cosewic.gc.ca/] ] . It is also listed as a species of least concern by the IUCN (The World Conservation Union) due to the wide distrubution and assumed large population [ [Hammerson, G. 2004. Hemidactylium scutatum. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.] ] . But it is at risk in some provinces such as in Quebec ( S3 Rare in the province; usually between 20 and 100 occurrences in the province; may have fewer occurrences, but with a large number of individuals in some populations; may be susceptible to large-scale disturbances) [M.N.R.F.Q., 2008 [http://www.ofnc.ca/cfn/cfn116-2.php] ] . Its status in the United States ranges from Threatened (Illinois), Endangered (Indiana & Minnesota) and Special Concern (Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Ohio & Missouri) [ [Lannoo, M. 1998. Status and Conservation of Midwestern Amphibians. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press.] ] .

Food sources: Four-toed salamanders feed mosly on small invetebrates, such as spider worms, ticks, springtails (collembola), ground beetles (carabidae) and other insects. Larvaes love small aqutic crustaceans [ [GILHEN, J. 1984. Amphibians and Reptiles of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Museum. Halifax. 162p.] ] , [ [DESROCHES, J.-F. & D. RODRIGUES. 2004. Amphibiens et Reptiles du Québec et des Maritimes. Éd. Michel Quintin. Waterloo. 288p.] ] .

Predators:Larvaes are eaten by other salamanders (adults and larvaes), fishes and aquatic beetles. Shrews, snakes and some ground beetles feast on this species. When it feels threatened, H.scutatum will use autotomy (drops its tail, still wiggling) to distract the attention of predators [ [GILHEN, J. 1984. Amphibians and Reptiles of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Museum. Halifax. 162p.] ] , [ [DESROCHES, J.-F. & D. RODRIGUES. 2004. Amphibiens et Reptiles du Québec et des Maritimes. Éd. Michel Quintin. Waterloo. 288p.] ] .

References

External links

* [http://tolweb.org/Hemidactylium_scutatum/15534 Tree of Life: Hemidactylium scutatum]
* Database entry includes a range map and a brief justification of why this species is of least concern